10 Cheap Things to Do in Dallas This Weekend

Roni Horn Exhibit Nasher Sculpture Center 2001 Flora St. 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday $10 It’s hard to be ethereal and industrial at the same time, but Roni Horn’s exhibition at the Nasher Sculpture Center accomplishes exactly that. Her massive, heavy glass sculptures could double as some sort of construction equipment – until you get up close and realize the marvelous complexity of them. The light that floods the Nasher plays with the surface of the glass, illuminating, radiating and reflecting a visual experience that changes with your perspective with the time of day and with the interplay of tiny flaws and precise curves on each piece. The effect is that the incredibly weighty pieces seem almost angelic, making Horn’s minimalism downright otherworldly. See the Roni Horn exhibition from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Sundays until Aug. 20. Admission to the Nasher is $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and military, and free for first responders and kids younger than 12. – Jennifer Davis-Lamm Brave Combo Dan's Silverleaf 103 Industrial St., Denton 9 p.m. Friday $10 For more than 35 years, Denton-based Brave Combo has been delighting us with its wonderfully original polka and off-kilter approaches to classics such as the Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" and Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze," along with original salsa, cha-cha-cha, samba, cumbia and plenty of other musical styles. The Grammy Award-winning band has received plenty of national attention with numerous albums but is no stranger to the small venues of North Texas. And while the search is still on for missing member Joe Cripps, Brave Combo continues to play for those who love the music. – Diamond Victoria

Emo Throwdown 2017 The Door Dallas 2513 Main St. 7 p.m. Friday $10 to $12 You could say emo, emerging as a style of post-hardcore from mid-1980s West Coast punk, became a state of mind for many with its emotionally driven lyrics and rapport with the sensitive and introverted. Many emo bands remained obscure and signed to small, independent labels throughout the '90s. But with the success of bands such as the platinum-selling Jimmy Eat World and Dashboard Confessional in the early 2000s, emo suddenly became everything it seemingly stood against – mainstream. So if you're longing for the days of early emo, Emo Throwdown 2017 has everything you'd expect from an emo show: a small, intimate venue, anthems of love lost and lots of feels. – Diamond Victoria

I, a Stranger Haley-Henman Gallery 2335 Hardwick St. 3 p.m. Saturday Free There are moments in life when your mind argues with you. Do I know that person? You think you recognize him or her, that you’ve interacted before, that maybe you’re friends on Facebook. But the person is appearing out of context, in an unexpected place, so you can’t place him or her. That’s how it feels to look at Joshua West’s I, a Stranger exhibition at Haley-Henman Gallery. His paintings are adapted from photography: his own, that of artist Kristen Giles and collected social media images. There’s an air of familiarity about the subjects; you know them, but you don’t. The splashes of color and abstractions West uses to frame his subjects play with our perception of them, setting them apart while asking us to consider our common connections and identities. Experience West’s affecting portraiture during the opening reception from 3 to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 3, or from noon to 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Saturdays until July 8. – Jennifer Davis-Lamm

Deep Ellum Lit Hop Multiple locations Elm Street 4 p.m. Saturday Free When did being called a reader become an insult? It made sense when we were kids because kids are supposed to act irrationally, so they can learn how to behave when they presumably grow up. Now we have grown adults describing readers the same way they’d describe some rich snob who turns his nose up at the rest of the world. We had a presidential candidate in 2012 who said on the campaign trail, “We need a leader, not a reader.” If you don’t buy into the notion that being literate means you think you’re better than everyone, then proudly show off your love for books Saturday at this year’s Deep Ellum Lit Hop, sponsored by Wordspace. Readings will be at Independent Kitchen, 2712 Main St.; Kettle Art, 2650 Main St.; Deep Vellum Books, 3000 Commerce St.; and Drugstore Cowboy, 2721 Main St. Guests can walk the downtown streets to peruse the shelves for fun, new reads and the perfect drinks with which to pair them. The Lit Hop schedule will also feature special events like a poetry showcase at Pandora’s Box and a Dallas fiction writers showcase at Kettle Art. – Danny Gallagher

Starr Gallery Opening Party Starr Gallery 135C Pittsburg St. 7 p.m. Saturday Free For more than 30 years, North Texas-based artist Sean Starr has created ornate, traditionally handpainted signs, and in 2013, Starr was featured in the documentary film and book Sign Painters. Blending his background as an artist, sign painter, designer and illustrator, Starr and his work achieved an international reputation and a wide range of exhibitions while he worked for companies like the Gap, Indian Motorcycle and Sony Music, as well as recording artists ranging from the Cranberries to Fleetwood Mac’s Lindsay Buckingham to the Toadies. Starr’s commercial artwork and design are available through his studio in Denton, which is operated by Starr and his wife, Kayleigh. His artwork is being shown at the Starr Gallery, and the gallery is hosting the opening party for the new space in Dallas from 7 to 9 p.m. Saturday. The opening is free and open to the public and will include the original artwork Starr created for the cover of the Toadies' album Heretics and the unveiling of a large-scale gilded-glass piece for Dallas tattoo artist Josh Hall. – Daniel Rodrigue

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Film Series: The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema Dallas Museum of Art 1717 N. Harwood St. 11:30 a.m. Sunday Free The success of Mexican filmmakers in Hollywood over the past few years is certainly no fluke. Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Alfonso Cuarón and Guillermo del Toro are just a few who have given cinema enthusiasts hours of award-winning entertainment with their immense talents in directing, writing and producing some of the best films to come out in the past decade. (Think Birdman, Gravity and several in The Hobbit series.) Could Mexican cinema be entering its second golden age? In any case, it’s worth reflecting on the period between 1936 and 1959 when Mexico’s film industry was second only to oil and gave Hollywood a run for its money. In celebration of its exhibit México 1900-1950: Diego Rivera, Frida Kahlo, José Clemente Orozco and the Avant-Garde, the Dallas Museum of Art, 1717 N. Harwood St., hosts Film Series: The Golden Age of Mexican Cinema, a free four-day series that began in May and takes place over two months with seven films shown in the Horchow Auditorium. At 11:30 a.m. and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, you can check out two classics: Enamorada and La Perla, respectively. Enamorada follows a lovelorn guerrilla general in the Mexican revolution, and La Perla tells of the pangs of striking it rich. – Diamond Victoria

June Flea MarketDouble Wide 2510 Commerce St. Noon Sunday Free Getting tooted before an afternoon of shopping is a good way to spend money on a bunch of crap you don't need or really even like all that much. Normally we don't advise it. But when Double Wide bar, 3510 Commerce St., opens its doors from noon to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 3, for its June flea market, it's safe to bring out the beer goggles. It’s invited only the best and hippest dealers of antiques, vintage clothes, records, jewelry, comic books and more. So even if you get a little loosey-goosey in your spending, you won't wake up with a dud. Take advantage of happy hour until 7 p.m. Wells and domestics are $3, and admission costs you squat. – Caroline North

Peticolas Pingpong Tourney Peticolas Brewing Co. 2026 Farrington St. 1 p.m. Sunday $5 Beer pong is not a sport. It’s a much easier way to play pingpong. It takes skill, talent and physical agility to master the art of paddle smacking. Your eyes have to square off against a tiny piece of plastic moving at 60 mph, and the only weapon you have is a paddle. Beer pong is the equivalent of bowling on a lane with gutters that keep your ball from missing the pins. It’s soccer without that pesky, no-hands rule. If you think you’ve got what it takes to prove your real pingpong prowess and you enjoy beer, then sign up for Peticolas Brewing Co.’s annual pingpong tourney from 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday. The brewing company will pit 32 players against each other in a single-elimination tournament in which the last player standing wins a $50 gift certificate. Participants will be entered on a first-come, first-served basis and must pay a $5 registration fee that gets credit for the brewing company’s taproom. Tickets for the tourney are available at prekindle.com. – Danny Gallagher

Hide Pop-Up Bar Cigar Art 504 N. Bishop Ave. 6-10 p.m. Sunday Free Sate all of your vices in one convenient location at Cigar Art in the Bishop Arts District, where a complimentary cocktail pop-up bar will take over for one night only. The good people from Hide in Deep Ellum will be mixing, shaking and stiriring up cocktails for Cigar Art patrons. Nicotine and alcohol? Don't mind if we do. – Kathryn DeBruler

Caroline North is the music and culture editor at the Dallas Observer. She studied English at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and in 2012 returned to her hometown of Dallas, where she spends her free time seeking out new places to roller skate and play pinball.